Means for operating upon one or more constituents of a gaseous medium by adsorption



. G. Gu'rHRlE 2,222,828 MEANS FOR OPERATING UPON ONE OR MORE CONSTITUENTS OF Nov. 26, 1940.

A G'ASEOUS MEDIUM BY ADSORPTION IFiled March 31, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet l QQ TOQQQ e u a a n Jaosfnoaescae 2.222,828 MEANS F03 OPERATING UPON ONE 0R MORE coNs'rmuEN'rs or"v K Nov. '26, '1940. R. G. GuTHRaE A GASEOUS MEDIUM BY ADSORPTION Filedmarohal, 1937 l.4 shetg-sheet 2A 64Mb/lv@ Nov. 2e, 1.941,0. R. G.

MEANS FOR OPERATING UPON ONE 0R MORE CONSTITUENTS OF A GASEOUS MEDIUM BY ADSORPTION' Flled March 3l, 1937 4 SheetsfSheet IL Ulf 42,222,828 N ONE 0R MORE CONSTITUENTS 0F A GAsEoUs MEDIUM BY ADsoRPTIoN f Nav. 265, 19- R. G. GUTHRIE v MEANS FOR OPERATING UPO Filed March' 31, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 W10@ TE WASTE CONDE/VSH? Patented Nev. 2s, 1940 UNITED STATES.`

PATNT -oFFlcE IVIEANS FOR OPERATING UPON UNE R MORE CONSTITUENTS OF A GASEOUS ME- DIUM BY ADSORPTION a Robert G.. Guthrie, Chicago, Ill.,' assigner to Peoples Gas By-Products Corporation, Chicago,

Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application March 31, 1933!, Serial No., 134,072

2 claims. (ol. isa-4) 4 My present invention relates to means for adsorbing or absorbing one or more constituents of a uid medium and the treatment of the means by which such adsorption or absorption is accomplished.

In the preparation of silica dioxide absorbing media, such as Lamisilite or silica gel, the ore from which the material is prepared is subjected to a leaching action by sulfuric acid to prepare it for its use as an active adsorbing orabsorbing material. As disclosed in my companion appli,- cation, Serial No. 133,132`filed March 26, 1937, a container of fibers of silicious material, such as spun glass, asbestos andthe like, resistant to chemical reagents, heat and other inuences, may be utilized as a means for handling the material, both in the initial stages of preparation and in the use of the material for adsorbing'or absorbing constituents of a gaseous medium. Such a container also serves to give form to the material, and to permit handling thereof in any cleaning and/or drying operations which may be necessitated by the continued use of the material. The spun glass to which I refer is very iine being of a cross sectional diameter under`0.001. Such a material is now spun in bers of indefinite length. It is supplied to the market by Corning Glass Works. y

For example, with a container made of silicious fiber, the'ore may be leached in the acid to form the desired silicon dioxide product. The product in the container may then be employed/ for the operation of extracting constituents from a gaseous medium under conditions of use where the inert character of the container and its ability to withstand high temperatures is of very great value, and thereafter the container with the active material therein may be put through a cleaning process a's by acid or alkaline reagents of a suitable degree of effectiveness, and then the container with the reconditioned material may again be employed in the extraction of constituents by adsorption .or absorption.

In the practice of one embodiment of the present invention, I employ a continuous belt or traveling container of glass iiber, or other silicious fiber fabric,in which there is carried the active medium, and I move this container first into a region where its adsorbingv or absorbing proper` ties are utilized, and thereafter move the' container and its charge of material into a region where the adsorbed or absorbed constituents are stripped from the material as by the use of heat, and, if desired, a carrying gas. The extracted constituent or constituents may be condensed or otherwiserecovered or the extracted constituent may be rejected, depending upon the character stituent extracted.

According to another form of my invention, the container of silicious ber with the enclosed active material may be maintained stationary and subjected alternately to contact with the medium containing the constituent to be extracted andv thereafter subjected to heat and a carrying gas for stripping the active -material of the extracted constituent.

' For cleaning or reconditioning the active material, as by removing dirt, tarry or other foreign substances, this may be accomplished while the active material is in place, or the container with the active material may be removed from its normal position where extraction is carried on for a cleaning treatment.

Now in order to acquaint those skilled in the art with the manner of constructing and operating a device embodying my invention, I shall include in the accompanying drawings a specifi embodiment andmode of use thereof.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a diagram of a system for extracting a constituent form of a gaseous medium and for the recovery of the saine in liquid form;

Figure 2 is across sectional view of the continuous belt employed in the system of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of a modled form of belt for use in the system of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a -front elevation in diagrammatic form of an apparatus for treating gaseous medium to extract a constituent thereof;

Figure 5 is a vertical longitudinal cross section through the device of Figure 4;

vof the industrial process involved and the con-v Figure 6 is a, diagram of the system for continuousoperation employing the form of extractor shown in Figures 4 and 5;

Figure' l is a vertical cross sectional view through a modied form of extractor;

Figure -8 is an isometric view of one of the pads or elements employed in Figure '7;

Figure 9 is a. cross sectional view of a modiiied form of element; and

Figure 10 is a top plan view of the same.

Referring rst to the system shown in Figure standing the temperatures of the order of 200 F.'

to 300 F. in the same manner that glass fiber or asbestos ilber does, may be employed.

The continuous belt I may be made of a tubular knitted or woven fabric, or it maycomprise strips of such silicious fiber fabric 2-2, as shown in Figure 3, having strips of rubber 4-4 vulcanized to the ends thereof, and corresponding strips 4-4 at each side thereof united either by vulcanizing or by mechanical means, if desired. l0 Alternatively, the continuous tubular belt may be made up by sewing together the edges of a corresponding strip or strips. This tubular belt I is charged with a suitable. active material 5,- such as Lamisilitef silica gel, or any other active medium which is capable of adsorbing or absorbing constituents of a gaseous medium for extraction purposes. The belt I may be made up as a continuous open structure, or it may be formed with pockets by transverse stitching of a suitable thread 'made of glass liber or the like, somewhat in the same manner as the pad orv `element shown in Figure 8. This belt is trained over suitable guiding rollers or pulleys, such as are indicated at i, 1, 3 and 8.. The belt is first passed through an extracting chamber I0 into which chamber is discharged a fluid containing a gas, vapor, or other constituent to be adsorbed or absorbed. For this purpose a distributing tube I2, having suitable openings,` is disposed/.at one side of the belt I, and the gaseous medium to be treated is delivered into the chamber I0, as by means of the blower I3. Upon the opposite side of the belt I a similar distributing tube I4 -leads-to the intake of a blower or fan i5 for removing the treated gas. The walls of the chamber may be kept sealed to the belt I, as by means of the flexible seals I'6--I6. Any suitable mode of keeping the chamber I0 substantially tight may be employed. The object tobe ac- 4 0 complished in the chamber Ill is the contact of the medium to be treated and which contains the constituent to be extracted with the active material in the belt. The belt has a loose weave approximately that of a gunny sack, allowing free access of the gas to the active material 5. 'I'he belt seals itself along the vsides of the chamber I0, ,so that substantially all of the medium is compelled to pass through the belt I, except the constituents which are extracted.

50. 'I'he fans or blowers I3 and I5may be driven in such ratio to each other that th'espace below the belt I in the chamber I0 may be slightly in excess of atmospheric pressure while the space above the belt I is slightly below atmospheric 58 pressure. Thereby leakage is reduced and passage of the gas through the belt I is facilitated.

The gas to be treated may be first passed through a filter I1 to remove dust, tarry substance and the like.

80 Immediately after passing the extracting chamber I0 where adsorption or absorption has occurred, the belt is passed into the stripping chamberl similarlyprovided with suitable seals IB-IS. Heating coils I8-I8, which maybe 65 heated with' steam, hot water or the like. raise the temperature of the active material in the l chamber I8. This causes the adsorbed or absorbed constituent or constituents to be driven off. Any other suitable heating means may be 70'-employed. Such constituents may then be conveyed with or without a carryins sas to a condenser 20 where the constituent or constituents may be subjected to cooling and condensation, the condenser 20 being suitably water cooled or 'l5-air cooled, as the case may be. If the stripped constituent is to be rejected, it may be extracted by a fan .or blower 22 connected by a suitabledistributing pipe 23 in chamber i8. More expeditioushandling of the extracted constituent may be effected by blowing a ,carrying gas 5 through the stripping chamber I8. For such purposes a blower 24 and distributing pipe 25 may drive gas through the belt l to the opposite side of the belt where the suction pipe 23 and blower 22 may carry the same to the condenser 10 or to a stack or waste pipe.

Such a system may be employed.' for example, for recovering the volatile solvents used in various industrial processes, lsuch solvents being condensed in the condenser 20 and recovered. The 15 system may likewise be employed for extracting moisture from the atmosphere for air conditioning purposes. lIn thelatter event, the water vapor present in the atmosphere is taken up by the active material in the chamber I0 and is'20 stripped in the chamber I8 where it may be discharged to the stack at the connection 26. The speed with which the adsorbed or absorbed constituent is driven oi depends upon the temperatures to which the active material is subjected. 25 Desirably this is above 212 F. for water vapor. The heat to which the belt isy subjected would tend to deteriorate organic fabrics but in the case of a silicious fiber fabric such temperatures are not objectionable, and have no1 deteriorating 30 effect upon the container. The active material is subjected to a minimum of mechanical stress, e and the breakage of the same thereby limited or prevented. -Where the rubber margins are employed,A as in Figure 3, the edges of the belt are 35 not subjected to wearing because ofthe toughness of the rubber margins. To keep the material more nearly uniformly distributed in the b`elt I, transverse stitching as indicated in the pad of Figure 8 may be employed. Other means for 40 keeping the loose material ifrom shifting in the container may be employed. i

In Figures 4, 5 and 6, I have illustrated the use of a stationary extracting mediuin held in a silicious ber container, such as the bag 28 shown 45 in Figure 5. Inl this construction, an outer shell or chamber 29 is provided with gas connections 30 and 32 provided with suitable valves to allow the introduction of either the lmedium -to be treated or of a stripping medium, as the case may be. The-bag 28 is attached to the cover 33, as by a suitable clamping flange 35, and within the said bag there is disposed a heat transfer coil 36 which may be supplied with heating medium or cooling medium by suitable supply pipes and valves 31v and 38. `A central distributing pipe 89 provided with a large -number of slits or openings as indicated at 40, allows introduction of the medium to be treated into the bag 28. The space within the bag 28 and around the coil 33 60 and distributing pipe 38 is lled with the active material 5 which maybe s'uch a material as "Lamisilitefi silica gel or the like, preferably a material having a high ratio of surface to volume, and having the desirable properties of being 55 capable of adsorbing or absorbing the desired constituents. The heat transfer coil 38 maintains vthe material I at a suitable temperature during the extraction of thexdesired constituent. Thus, for example, in adsorbing or absorbing vapor constituents, the coil 33 is maintained at a relatively low temperature by the ow of cooling medium therethrough.

Upon the termination of the operation of absorbing or adsorbing. heating` medium is passed through the coil 36, and a carrying gas may be passed through the space-4I between the bag 28 and the walls of the container 29. The connections shown in Figure 4 comprise a valve 5 42 to allow a gas to be treated to be introduced into the pipe 39 as by means-of a blower -43 or the stripping gas may be introduced by the" blower i9 when the valve 42 is shifted to corresponding position. When the gas to be treated is passed through the pipe 39, then the pipe 30 and valve 95 lead the treated gas to the blower e6 which discharges the treated gas. The valve 4l may connect the chamber 29 to the blower 68 'which discharges the carrying gas bearing the constituent to be either condensed or rejected. Obviously, other arrangements of connections may be made for carrying out the alternate extraction and stripping operation.

In Figure 6 I have shown connections for utilizing two units A and B whereby when `unit A is adsorbing or absorbing, unit B may be stripped of the absorbed or adsorbed constituent, and

vice versa.

An alternate form of combined extracting and stripping chamber isshown in Figure 7. In this case, a drum or chamber 50 is provided with a series of gridlike coils 52-52 connected at opposite ends to the headers 53 and 54, which through the valves 31 and 38 may be supplied with heating and cooling medium selectively. Upon these grids 52-52 pads or active elements 55 are disposed these pads or elements substantially closing off the cross section of the drum or cham` ber 5B. The drum or chamber 50 is provided 56 through which the active elements or pads 55 may be inserted and removed, as desired. -Connections 5l and 58 at top and bottom, respectively, provide means for passing through these pads the gas to be treated or a stripping gas, suitable valves 59 and S0 being provided to allow the switching of the-medium passed through the active elements. Suitable blowers for causing movement of the gas in each case may be pro- 15V vided, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, and by reference to the diagrams of Figures 4 and 6. Valves 31 and 38 for admitting heating and cooling medium to the pipes 52 are also provided. 50, The pads or elements 55 are preferably constructed of a fabric skin or container sewed transversely as by the stitching 62 to provide pockets such as 63 for retaining the active material. These pads may be made of tubular fabric cross stitched, or they may be made up of a sheet or sheets suitably stitched together with glass iiber thread or the like, as shown in Figure 8.;

In the operationof the unit shownl in Figure 50 "I, the coils 52 are connected to a cooling medium and the gaseous medium to be treated is passed through the chamber 50. The adsorption of the constituent in vapor phase results in the evolution of heat, and this is carried. away by the cur- 65 rent of cooling medium through coils 52.

Thereafter the valves 31-33 and 59-60 are shifted to heat the coils 52 while a stripping gas is passed through the chamber 50. Obviously, a

condenser is employed when the stripped constituent is to be recovered. If desired, the use of stripping gas may be greatly reduced or omitted where the condenser is maintained at a reduced pressure.

Obviously, instead of a rectangular -pad or element a circular element may be made up. A

modified form of element is shown in Figure 9. In this case theelement is circular. A ring or hollow cylinder 64 of rubber, glass or other inert material is covered with glass thread fabric 35-65 or equivalent material, the margins being 5 fastened together as by sewing, as indicated at 68, or fastened in any other preferred manner to form a hollow drum, which is filled with active material 5. The frame or ring may be providedv with an external sealing or mounting flange if l0 desired. Such elements may be disposed transn versely in a chamber as illustrated in Figure 7,

and they may be inserted or removed as desired. After a period of use in the extraction of constituents from the gaseous medium, the active 15 material and the surface of the glass fabric or asbestos fabric or the like requires cleaning, and to this end, depending upon the character of the impurities, a suitable cleaning fluid may be employed for removing the same. The elements may be taken from the treating chamber and subjected to the desired reagent or cleaning fluid, and dried either in a centrifuge or by hot air o`r the like, or by swinging mechanically, as one would swing-a wet sponge to throw off the excess of .moisture without injury to the fabric or the active material.

Instead of disposing a plurality of pads in series, these pads may be arranged in parallel so that maximum surface is simultaneously exposed in a single pass.

As above explained, the active material 'may be formed from the ore within such a container as is illustrated in Figures 8 and 9. The leaching operation and the cleaning operation are similar. 35

The utility'of a unitary mat or element is apparent to those skilled in the art.

I do not intend to be limited to the specific structures, or specific mode of use described, as the same is intended to be illustrative rather than limiting.

I claim:

1. In a vgaseous fluid contact apparatus, a flexible fabric container pervious to gaseous fluids, and a mass of adsorbent material therein, 45 said exible fabric container being substantially `unaffected by temperatures in excess of.boiling water and substantially inert to ordinary chemical reagents, means for passing gaseous fluid into contact with the adsorbent material to pro- 5o duce adsorption, and means for heating the adsorbent material to drive oi the adsorbed constituent, said container being removable as a non-rigid self contained independent unit for treatment of the adsorbent material by a strong oxidizing reagent while the latter is retained in the container.

2. Means for extracting a constituent of a gaseous medium' comprising a flexible, pliant, hollow 'belt-like container carrying d an active material capable of adsorbing a constituent of said gaseous medium, said container comprising sidewalls of open mesh fabric of spun glass fibers, an adsorption chamber in which the gaseous medium contacts with the active material for 65 the adsorption of said constituent and a stripping chamber wherein said adsorbed; constituent is stripped from the active material. said latter chamber having means for subjecting the active material t`o stripping temperature, said container being passed-endwise successively through said chambers,` the container and the active material being capable of withstanding the action of a strong cleaning acid.

` ROBERT G. GUTHRIE. .75 

